Upgrading my old PC for gaming

Built this rig back in '09, only the GPU and PSU are newer...
Let me know what's worth keeping and what I should just swap out for something new. Want everything to be somewhat "balanced" with my current graphics card. Budget is around 2-$1000.

Picked up the GPU a little over a year ago thinking I'd upgrade the rest fast after... but money wasn't there 😵
Got an issue with the GPU right now—if I run any modern game on max settings, it lasts maybe 5-10 mins, then the screen goes black and I gotta force reboot the whole thing. Thought maybe it was the PSU... honestly don't know.

Along with upgrading whatever needs it, I also want to grab a small SSD for Windows and my main work stuff... less important files can stay on the HDD.

PSU: energon eps-650W

CPU: Intel Core2 duo E7300

Motherboard: ASRock G41C-GS

GPU: Gygabyte AMD Radeon R9 280 x (3 GB)

RAM: Kingmax Semiconductor 2 + 2 (4 GB)

Hard drive: 500 gb (don't need more than that)

Thanks in advance 😁

AMD FX X8 8300 processor (16MB Cache, up to 4.20 GHz), sAM3+
Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P motherboard, sAM3+
Fortron 600 w power supply, Hyper, PPA6003302, 12cm fan, Active PFC, Efficiency: over 85%
Cooler Master Hyper 212 X, RR-212X-17PK-R1
DDR3 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-14900 1866MHz CL10 Kingston HyperX Fury, HX318C10FBK2/8

Total: ~$$850(cash) - ADM

I guess those screen issues and restarts are coming from the power supply. It probably can't handle the graphics card... since it's pretty bottom-tier 😬

Thanks a lot. Got any ideas for an SSD? Just wanna run Windows and whatever game I'm playing at the moment... honestly, think 120 GB would be plenty...

If you're looking for the best value right now, SanDisk is definitely the way to go. Go ahead and grab one.
I have one AMD FX X8 8300 (3.3GHz, 16MB, 95W, AM3+) available in its original retail box.
I have one single stick of Kingston HyperX Fury 8GB DDR3 memory, running at 1866MHz with a CL10 latency, in that distinctive Red series.
I have one Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P available. This is an AM3+ socket board featuring a 4+1 phase power design, specifically rated to handle a 125W CPU.
I am currently looking at a single LC POWER LC-CC-120 CPU cooler. This unit is designed to support both Intel and AMD processors and features a 120mm fan with PWM control.
I have one Fortron Raider S 550W available. It holds an 80+ Silver rating and features 60mj.
One SanDisk X400 128GB SSD, 2.5” 7mm, SATA 6 Gbit/s, 60mj.

Total: $988 Just take your old case down to them, and they'll put everything together for you free of charge.

The Intel I5 holds its own here:

1x Asus B85M-K
1x Intel Core I5 4460
1x Kingston HyperX Fury 8GB DDR3 1600MHz C11
1x SanDisk X400 128GB SSD, 2.5” 7mm, SATA 6 Gbit/s, Read/Write: 540 MB/s / 340 MB/s
1x XFX 550W Easy rail Bronze 80+

TOTAL: $980

Greetings,

I find myself facing a similar dilemma, so I figured this would be the perfect thread to jump into. I’d really appreciate getting some insight from you all.

To give you some context—I've been running a rig from back in 2009. It was actually quite a powerhouse at the time, but now? It needs a serious boost. I’m noticing a massive lag when it comes to launching applications or trying to juggle multiple programs at once.

Just to be clear, I don't use this machine for gaming; my workload consists mostly of 3D modeling software and more demanding business applications.

Here is the current setup:

Windows 7, AMD Phoenom ii X2 550 Processor, 4 gb ram, ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series, 600 gb hard, 3,1 ghz

My main question is: what should be my absolute priority for an upgrade? I'm working with a pretty tight budget here, so I can't just go out and replace everything at once.

So, if we're looking at a CPU, a graphics card, and adding another 4GB of RAM—could you just throw out a ballpark figure? It would really help us know what kind of components we're actually hunting for.

p.s. Make sure to include the motherboard model too, please.

Roughly $333 to start things off—I’ll probably fine-tune the rest once I have a bit more breathing room in my budget, but for now, I just want to beef this thing up as much as possible with what I can afford right now.

Motherboard Model: Sapphire PC-AM2RX790

With that kind of budget, you could just upgrade the graphics card.
http://www.amazon.com/product.asp?produc...&code=62277ADM

fadedeagle5 said:Maybe around $333 to start, then I’ll upgrade whatever else needs doing once I have more cash. For now, I just want to beef this thing up as much as possible...

Motherboard: Sapphire PC-AM2RX790

What you've got is pretty dated. If you're planning on sticking with it, just upgrade the RAM and the CPU (check what the board actually supports). Look for used parts, obviously, since you can't find anything new anymore...

http://www.sapphiretech.com/download.asp?lang=eng

You could probably grab a Phenom X4 965 at 3.4GHz for about $133—assuming the board handles it
. Add 4 gigs of RAM and maybe an extra
http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-SSD-Drive-120GB/dp/B00E9GZ6S6

That might land you somewhere around $333, maybe a bit more... Put your OS and main programs on the SSD; that’s the best way to get a massive speed boost out of that motherboard...

Your current CPU can be overclocked, but honestly, it might be worth swapping the power supply for something beefier too. Age catches up to everything...

Performance-wise, your processor is currently sitting below an Intel Celeron G1840, which is roughly $120. Here’s how they stack up

http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/916...ore_G1840.html

The next logical step would be

http://www.newegg.com/Intel-Celeron-G1840-Processor/p/N82E16832116153

http://www.newegg.com/Gigabyte-GA-H81M-S1/p/N82E16832284111

Plus that SSD I mentioned earlier

And with this memory http://www.newegg.com/Kingston-DDR3-4GB/p/N82E16820372527, you’d be slightly over $333

I’d recommend just grabbing a single 8GB stick instead

http://www.newegg.com/Kingston-DDR3-8GB/p/N82E16820372527

Not sure how much your GPU matters for the software you're running...

But definitely get an SSD... Just that alone will give you a huge boost, and they aren't expensive.

A build with a Celeron pulls at least 50W less power...

This CPU would be a much better move if you can swing it instead of the G1840

http://www.newegg.com/Intel-Core-i3-4130-Processor/p/N82E16832116154

Now, this one is interesting because it has an unlocked multiplier, so you can overclock it

http://www.newegg.com/Intel-Pentium-G3258-Processor/p/N82E16832116155

That CPU, the motherboard, and 8GB of RAM puts you right around $400... then just add the SSD later

Honestly, I wouldn't sink more money into that old rig if I were you. It’s better to save up a bit more and just build a fresh system from the ground up. For instance, if you can scrape together another $0.57, you could grab something like this:

1x Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P (SAM3, DDR3, SATA III, LAN, USB 2.0/3.0) ATX Box
1x AMD X6 FX-6300 (14M Cache, up to 4.10 GHz), sAM3+
1x Corsair 8GB DDR3 1600 L Value
1x LC Power CPU Cooler LC-CC-95

You can drop these parts in now while keeping the rest of your current setup, then slowly upgrade everything else down the road as you need to.

It could definitely go that way too...

2 x

plus a combo of a few quad-core processors

Solid CPU. Great if you want to overclock, but it doesn't have integrated graphics...

Same goes for this one

Good processor. Uses half the power of the ones mentioned above, and it actually has decent built-in graphics. You might even be able to sell your old GPU if it isn't vital for your software...

That would run you about $1200...$433

Add an SSD for $100 on top of that (plus your old hard drives, a case—there are new ones for $42, and a power supply)

The downside to this platform is there's no room for upgrades later, but it offers a lot right out of the gate. For $400, you basically have a rock-solid machine...

Hey everyone,
I've been following this interesting thread because I’m currently stuck in that same dilemma—do I try to squeeze more life out of my current rig, or just bite the bullet and buy something new?

My current setup is about 7 years old now. It's an older mid-range build, if I recall correctly.
MB: Asus p5QPL-AM (socket 775, G41 chipset)
proc: Intel Core2 duo E7300 (2.66)
4 GB RAM
Graf: Nvidia GT240 (not great, though it still manages to run some things)
Case and power supply combo.

I think I could maybe swap in a used Quad processor that the board supports.
I'd also grab another 4 GB of RAM.
For the GPU, maybe a GT450, though I'm not sure if I could go any higher than that.
As for the power supply—I guess it might handle those upgrades, but I doubt it could support a much beefier graphics card.

Does it make sense to drop maybe $100$500 on these upgrades, or should I just sell this thing for parts and put together a new build in the $350-$400$1333 range that could hopefully last me another few years?

Thanks so much!

Best,

I don't get why a GPU can't outperform a GT450????

RAM plus a better CPU plus a better GPU plus a stronger power supply... if you can pull it all together for under $1000$500 then why the hell not

That sounds great then!
I was just thinking about the price, since the GT450 is around $133.

Thanks a ton for all the info. I’m going to sit down and really dig into the different options you guys laid out. Honestly, looking at the math, it feels like I’d just be throwing good money after bad—upgrading this old rig seems like a losing battle since it'll probably be obsolete again before I even finish. It feels like the smartest move is to just start pivoting toward an entirely new build. My plan is to grab a few core components that I can actually carry over to the next system, then slowly swap everything else out until the whole machine is refreshed. 👍👍

Ethan Davis54 said:Hey everyone,
I've been following this interesting thread. I'm actually facing the same dilemma right now—whether to squeeze more life out of my current rig or just bite the bullet and buy something new.

My current setup is about 7 years old. It's an older gaming build, if I recall correctly.
MB: ASUS P5QPL-AM (socket 775, G41 chipset)
proc: core2duo E7300 (2.66)
4 gb RAM
Graf: Nvidia GT240 (it's struggling, though it still runs quite a few things)
Case with built-in power supply.

The motherboard could probably handle a used Quad core if I found one that fits.
I'd also grab another 4 GB of RAM.
Graf: maybe a GT450, though I'm not sure if I can go higher.
Power supply—not sure if it could handle a better card, but likely yes, though the GPU would be the bottleneck.

Is it worth dropping $100$500 on this upgrade, or should I just sell it for parts and put together a new PC in the $3500$1333 range that could last me several more years?

Thanks a lot!

Best,

Sell it for parts!

Ethan Davis54 said:Then that's awesome!!!!
I was just worried about the price tag; I thought the GT450 was sitting around $133.

Honestly? Don't bother upgrading. Just build something fresh. Trust me on this—I've been down that road and learned my lesson the hard way.

If you've got $4,000 to work with, here is how I'd put it together:

1x AMD X6 FX-6300 Processor (14M Cache, up to 4.10 GHz), sAM3+
1x LC POWER Cosmo Cool CC-95
1x Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P, sAM3+
1x Gigabyte GTX950 WF2 OC 2GB DDR5, 128-bit, 1279/6600
1x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) PC3-12800 1600MHz CL11 Kingston Value
1x 1TB Toshiba HDD, 3.5", 7200RPM, 32MB Cache, SATA3
1x FORTRON 400W Power Supply, HEXA Plus 80+
1x Zalman Z1 midi tower

Total: $1333
Free assembly and shipping included.

swiftfalcon89 said:Don't bother upgrading. Just buy something new. Trust me, I've been there.

Here's what you can put together for $4k:

1x Intel Core i5-3570K (14M Cache, up to 4.10 GHz), LGA1155
1x LC POWER Cosmo Cool CC-95
1x Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P, sAM3+
1x Gigabyte GTX950 WF2 OC 2GB DDR5, 128-bit, 1279/6600
1x DDR3 8GB (1x8GB) PC3-12800 1600MHz CL11 Kingston Value
1x HDD 1TB Western Digital, 3.5", 7200RPM, 32MB Cache, SATA3
1x FORTRON 400W Power Supply, HEXA Plus 80+
1x Zalman Z1 midi tower

Total: $1333
Free assembly and shipping included.

If it slows down $33 because of the case, even an fx8300 will just stall out right there.

EVGA 500 BQ Power Supply
EVGA 500 w XT Series gaming case, no PSU included
ASUS GTX 950 graphics card, 2 GB DDR5, 128-bit, 1241/6600 MHz
Intel Core i7-4770K processor (16MB Cache, up to 4.20 GHz), sAM3+
ASUS M5A97 motherboard, sAM3+
LC POWER Cosmo Cool CC-95, socket 775/1155/1156/1150/AM2/AM3
1TB Western Digital HDD, 3.5", 7200RPM, 32MB Cache, SATA3, DT01ACA100
8GB (1x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz CL11 Kingston Value

Total: $4,$22
www.newegg.com
cash price.